Eternity

by M.E. Timmons

  Chapter 31

  The darkness lasted for a very short period of time, which I was thankful for because time was not something I had a lot of. There was a strange feeling, and then a rush of awareness. I could still feel my broken body, but I didn't feel any pain, like my body wasn't really important. The awareness that I felt then turned into something much stronger. It was like a wall inside of my very soul was breaking, and a wave was spilling over and consuming me. That wave was my very essence, which I had kept from myself with the wall that I had built. All of my memories came flooding back, and with those memories came pain and sadness from all that I had lost, which I felt with great intensity. It was the reason I liked living without the memories, and I felt a moment of regret for bringing them back, but I knew that it would be worth it. I felt the power I had been looking for return to me, which I used it to heal my own body and clean myself up, but there was another body that needed me more.

  When I opened my eyes I saw Victor there standing over me. The expression on his face was one of awe and shock. I wondered how he'd gotten down the cliff so quickly, but then I remembered that he could jump through space, which was generally referred to as psychoportation.

  "Isadora?" he whispered.

  "Yes," I said. "Tell Heather and Melissa that I'm alright, and try to keep this a secret."

  I psychoported myself back to the hall outside of the infirmary because it was the fastest way to get there. No one noticed my strange arrival because they were all busy inside the infirmary. I hurried inside and pushed my way through the crowd.

  Jack looked even worse than before, which I hadn't thought possible, but he was still alive. Most of his wounds were covered, so he looked somewhat like a mummy. His skin was incredibly pale, so he looked lifeless, but I could hear the faint beating of his heart and feel his spirit within him. The nurse had not yet returned with a blood donor, and there was no guarantee that she could even find one anyway. Luckily, they wouldn't be needing one anymore.

  Dr. Hughes moved out of my way when I went to be by Jack's side. She thought I was there to say goodbye, but that was certainly not what I intended to do. I laid my hand on his bandaged forehead, and I let the power within me flow to him, healing as it moved. When all of the wounds were healed I replenished his blood supply as well, which immediately brought color back to his skin, and I could feel his heart beating stronger. When it was finished, I brought my hand away from his head. I started taking off the bandages, and when Dr. Hughes saw that the wounds were gone, she began to help without question, and so did the nurses. It didn't take long to get them all off. By the time Jack opened his eyes, he looked as if nothing had even happened, despite the fact that he was lying on a bed soaked in his own blood. He sat up, looking confused, not that I could blame him. He turned and looked at me, blinking.

  "Juliet, what's going on?" he asked.

  "You don't remember?"

  "Not really. I -" he stopped, and his expression darkened. "I was upset," he said. "I remember our fight, and how I felt. I almost couldn't control myself. When I left I went outside, and I turned into a wolf when I got to the woods to try to let off some steam, but it only made me feel angrier, and I blamed everything on Adrian.

  "When I got back inside it was late, but Adrian was in the common room alone. I hated him, and I was angry, and I started shouting at him. It took him by surprise, and he hardly reacted. For some reason that made me even angrier, probably because I felt like he didn't care, and I snapped. I turned right there and tried to attack him, but he dodged me and turned himself. I was so bent on hurting him I didn't even notice that he was bigger than I was, though I probably wouldn't have cared at that point anyway. I remember going at him, but he was too quick and strong, and he hurt me. That's really the last thing I remember." He looked down at himself to make sure he was in one piece, and he saw the blood. "Is that mine?"

  "It is," someone said behind me, and I turned to see Mrs. Bainbridge. Victor was standing next to her, and I could see Heather and Melissa in the background, meaning he had psychoported them back. "You were gravely injured by Mr. Alvarez, but luckily your friend here discovered an ability to heal. You probably would have died otherwise." She motioned to me. I could read her thoughts effortlessly, so I knew she knew what had happened. Victor had already filled her in. She also had no intention of telling Jack the truth, which I was thankful for. The rest of the teachers who had known beforehand who I was were already guessing the truth.

  "You can heal?" Jack said, clearly surprised.

  "Yeah. Jack, I'm so sorry about what happened. It was more my fault than anyone else's. I never would have forgiven myself if you'd died, and I don't know what I'd do without you." I was crying again, but I couldn't help it. I was so relieved that he was alright.

  Jack got up and hugged me. I didn't care that he was getting blood on me, and I hugged him back. "Don't blame yourself," he whispered in my ear. "I should never have asked you to be anything but my friend when you had already told me that's all you wanted, and I shouldn't have attacked Adrian. I guess in some ways I'm probably as bad as he is."

  A throat cleared, and I could tell that Mrs. Bainbridge wanted to say something. I let go of Jack and we turned. "Picking a fight with someone bigger than you does not excuse the fact that you tried to hurt a fellow student. It may seem unfair, considering what has happened to you already, but I'm afraid I am going to have to punish both you and Mr. Alvarez. I'd like to see you in my office as soon as you get cleaned up. Ms. White, I suggest that you and your roommates get back to bed. You can talk to each other about what happened in the morning, but I would prefer that you keep the details of this night to yourselves."

  Jack nodded went to get cleaned up. He didn't think his punishment was unfair even though he had almost died because he felt guilty about what he had tried to do.

  I went over to Heather and Melissa, and we started walking back to the south wing. The teachers were all heading back to bed now that the danger was over and everything was alright again. A few of them gave me questioning looks before they turned and went their own ways.

  Once we were a ways away from everyone else, Heather stopped and held out her hand. In her outstretched palm were my keys, still on their chain.

  "I thought you might want these back," she said, and she was smiling. She understood what had happened and she couldn't wait to begin questioning me. I took the keys gratefully and put them back around my neck.

  Melissa was another story altogether. The events of the night had taken a severe toll on her, and she didn't understand what had happened at all. She had watched her friend jump off a cliff, thought she was dead, and now that friend was standing next to her as if nothing had happened. She was shocked and confused.

  "Melissa," I said, "everything's fine."

  She turned her dull eyes toward me. "Please explain to me how that's possible. Jack was almost dead. Then you were dead. Then you weren't dead, and Jack was fine. I don't get any of it. Even by the standards of this place, with all of the magic that goes on here, none of it makes any sense."

  "Maybe there's more magic going on here than you realize," Heather hinted, still smiling.

  "And what is that supposed to mean?" Melissa asked. She was only getting more frustrated, so I decided to tell her the truth. It was the only way she would be alright that didn't involve me removing her memories, and I didn't want to do that. It would be the easy way out.

  "I'm not who you think I am," I said. "In fact, I'm not who I thought I was, and I had to die to realize that. I am Juliet, but I'm also Isadora."

  Melissa laughed. "Nice one," she said. "What's really going on?"

  "She's telling the truth," Heather confirmed. "All of the teachers have known it for a while. She has a white aura, and only the gods have white auras. Don't you remember in class when we talked about the gods taking away their own memories and powers so they could live l
ike normal people? That's what she did, and she had to die to get them back so she could save Jack."

  "And you knew this all along and didn't say anything?" Melissa accused, though she still didn't really believe.

  "No. Other people told me and they believed it, but I didn't," I explained. "It's a hard thing to believe, especially when you feel so normal and powerless."

  "Do you feel like that now?"

  I smiled. "No, I can't say that I do. I mostly just feel old and tired."

  "You don't look old," Heather commented. "What are you going to do now that you know? Are you going to go back to Asantis or something?"

  "No. I like this life, and I don't want to leave it yet. I might go to Asantis for the summer, but I'll be back for the next school year. That's why I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about me. I don't want people to see me differently. I know you both already do."

  "True," Heather said. "But still, we don't see it as a bad thing. It's actually kind of awesome. Just think of all the amazing stuff you can do."

  "Hey, the next time I have menstrual cramps, can you give me some pain relief?" Melissa asked hopefully. She was starting to accept the truth, however reluctantly.

  I laughed. "I have no problem with that. If you ever need anything, you can come to me, just try to do it in private. I don't even want Rhea to know, so be careful."

  We reached the south wing and quietly went up the stairs, trying not to wake anyone. When we got to our room Rhea was still there and sleeping peacefully, like nothing had happened at all. It seemed like no one knew that anything had happened, which seemed so strange to me because my life had changed so much over the past couple of hours. I was almost an entirely different person.